The following is the summary of a talk I gave at the University earlier this year, entitled "The art of being well and human". The premise is that our difficulties of living in modern society stem from the fact that our bodies haven't changed much over the past 100,000 years, but the way mankind lives has changed radically. Our bodies are suited for our previous life, living in small packs of hunter-gatherers in forests and savannahs, not coping with modern living in the 21st century.
About 20-40,000 years ago, man domesticated animals and plants. But when you think about it, we are the ones who have become domesticated. True, my dog is a far cry from the wolf his ancestors were, but he is still alot wilder than I am. After all, he leaves the house stark naked, gets it on with whomever he can, and pees wherever he please. For a domesticated creature, he lives on the wild side.
Man's major problems then and now:
Primitive man had two problems concerning diet. The main problem for primitive man was finding enough food. The other major problem for him was being someone else's food.
Because our bodies are designed for coping with minimal food intake, which was the situation in primitive times, they crave foods with the highest caloric value, carbohydrates and fats.
Today the problem of modern man is deciding which restaurant to go to. And when we go, our primitive bodies just can't say no. We consume too much carbohydrates and fat.
So here are the results of my ruminations and tips on being well:
How to be well in the 21st century
1. Get control over your health – In modern medicine, everything is about being sick and having diseases. Primitive man didn't have time to worry about being sick. And if he or she did have a physical incapacitation, the alternatives were cope or perish.
When I teach medical and dental students, I often ask them to define illness. Try to define it yourself, and then read on. You'll find that illness is actually a very subjective subject. Is someone with a headache sick? Hay fever? A cold? A mild flu? When you think about, it depends on how we define it ourselves. If you think that you're ill, then we're ill. On the other hand, there are a lot of diseases that we can regard as challenges or discomforts, yet feel healthy and get on with our lives. When things get you down, just think Franklin Delano Roosevelt or Helen Keller, the challenges they had to deal with, and the amazingly vital lives they lived.
2. Take the medications you NEED. Pharmaceutical companies are businesses. They are eager to sell more and more of their products. Beware. All medications have potential side effects. Take only what is necessary.
3. Eat rationally. One hundred thousand years ago, humans scavenged and hunted all day just to get barely enough energy to survive. As I mentioned above, we still have this prehistoric craving for energy-rich carbohydrates and fats. We consume more and more sweets, starch and fat, even though we get more than enough. The same goes for salt, which until recent times, was in scarce supply.
4. Drink sensibly. Our body is mostly water. Drink lots of water. And, unless otherwise advised, a glass of red wine a day for adults is fun and healthy. Cheers!
5. Exercise sensibly. Our prehistoric bodies thrive on exercise, and we feel much better when we are in shape. Work out gradually under supervision.
6. Watch less TV – Here in Israel, about half the population watch TV for 2-3 hours per day, and another 15% even more. TV is all about being passive, reactive, and wasting your life away. Just think of the million hours that people could be out and about, having their own life experiences, rather than watching actors live fictional lives. What a shame! As a child growing up in Canada, I watched tv for hours whenever I could. What do I have to show for it today? Nothing, except a vague memory of Howdy Doody. Also, when you watch tv, you are assailed by ads whose major target is selling you things you don't need or don't necessarily want. They do this by preying on our biological weaknesses and foibles.
I used to wonder how my folks, growing up in Winnipeg in the 1930s, managed without a television. Now I have second thoughts. Their childhood was probably much richer than that of TV-infused youngsters.
7. Read less news – When was the last time you watched (or read) the news and felt really good afterwards?
8. Ignore advertisements and commercials –they want to sell us things we usually don't need. I remember taking my six year old daughter to the supermarket during my sabbatical at the University of Toronto fifteen years ago. "Stop, Daddy", she'd say as we went down the aisle. "Here is something we need to buy". She was referring to sweetened cereal she saw advertised on tv, one of the least healthy foods you could ever imagine (but fortified with vitamins, to pull the wool over consumers' eyes). Buy unsweetened, uncolored cereals, such as oatmeal. If you like, sweeten it with natural products such as fruits or a little honey. And remember, commercial foods have a lot of salt. Apply sparingly.
9. Keep your inner child: be curious and creative – read my article on thinking well.
10. Humor: laughter is fun – and aside from creating the odd wrinkle, laughing is very healthy. It's also free or very inexpensive. Laugh loud and often. Enjoy comedians (two of my favorites are Bill Cosby and Jackie Mason, but there's nothing wrong with Mel Brooks or Eddie Murphy, is there?)
11. Be part of your 'wolf pack' – Until not so long ago, people lived in small tight-knit communities of extended families. Today that important part of our existence is compromised – kids, parents, siblings often live thousands of miles away. Try to keep in close touch with your extended family, and love them dearly.
12. Like yourself - It's difficult to love others when you have trouble liking yourself:
Modern men and women are a confused bunch. In the old prehistoric days, there was probably an alpha-male around, and everyone else knew their place (or else). But now television ads teach us that we can all be David Beckham and get hot chicks, provided that we buy a certain car or a certain perfume. Rubbish. Most of us aren't David Beckham. And most women aren't Miss World. We can still love ourselves, appreciate our own worth, love and be loved, cherish and be cherished, with or without that SUV or aftershave.
13. Believe in something – I'm not saying that one has to be religious, but belief does help people stay healthy and out of hospitals. And if you can't bring yourself to believe in religion, or a higher authority, believe in promoting love, human kindness, and good will. Help others, and feel good about it. And if you are religious, for God's sake (and ours) remember that religion is supposed to teach you to behave kindly to your fellow man (someone should have mentioned that to the Crusaders).
14. L-o-v-e – An ancient cure for just about everything.
15. Listen to the music play – My father-in-law once said that music is the bread of the soul. Find a type of music that you find soothing, uplifting. Nothing like a good tune to make us whistle and smile.
16. Be optimistic. I feel that one should always be optimistic today, after all, if things don't work out, you can always be pessimistic tomorrow.
17. Get sufficient sleep. In primitive times, there was little to do at night except sleep, make baby cavemen, or stand guard. With the advent of electric lights, tv and computers, we confuse our circadian rhythm and don't get enough shuteye. (Which reminds me, it's two in the morning, I think I'll take a little of my own medicine). G'night all.
© copyright Mel Rosenberg 2005. All rights reserved
